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Researchers at UZH are freezing the seeds of threatened local plants to help increase the biodiversity of ecosystems in the future.
The basic premise of the Zurich Seed Bank is very simple – collect the seeds of threatened plants species, dry them and freeze them for use in the future. The goal is to preserve the seeds of threatened plant species for posterity so that it will one day be possible to reuse them to boost local biodiversity.
Biodiversity has been declining in Switzerland for more than a century. Entire plant communities are disappearing, fueled by the loss or fragmentation of habitats, pollution, invasive species and climate change.
Nature preservation organizations in Switzerland and abroad have been warning us about the consequences of biodiversity loss, calling on all of us to take action before it’s too late. This is exactly what the team at the Zurich Seed Bank intends to do. The team is made up of project leader Gregory Jäggli, academic head Michael Kessler and a number of volunteers. Watch the video to find out how the seed vault works.
